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Birth, marriage and death certificates, history books with maps, census records, naturalization forms, yellowed newspaper clippings, old family photographs, probate files, obituaries...to a genealogist it's all about the relatives.
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National Bike to Work Dayhttps://where2look4ancestors.com/2017/05/19/national-bike-to-work-day/
https://where2look4ancestors.com/2017/05/19/national-bike-to-work-day/#respondFri, 19 May 2017 14:15:01 +0000http://where2look4ancestors.com/?p=6523The League of American Bicyclists was originally founded as the League of American Wheelmen in 1880. Bicyclists, known then as “wheelmen,” were challenged by rutted roads of gravel and dirt and faced antagonism from horsemen, wagon drivers, and pedestrians.

My 2nd-great grandmother’s son Otto V Mueller was elected captain of the newly formed Englewood [Illinois] Wheelmen in June of 1894.

From the past to the present, bike riders have been a part of my family tree.

In recent years there’s been an increased awareness of how bicycle riding is good for our health and for the environment.

National Bike to Work Day is observed on May 19, 2017. Bike to Work Day is an annual event across the United States and Canada that promotes the bicycle as an option for commuting to work. Leading up to Bike to Work Day, national, regional, and local bicycle advocacy groups encourage people to try bicycle commuting as a healthy and safe alternative to driving by providing route information and tips for new bicycle commuters. On Bike to Work Day, a wide variety of bicycle-related events are organized. Bike to Work Day was originated by the League of American Bicyclists in 1956 and is a part of Bike-to-Work Week, which is in turn part of National Bike Month. This text has been taken from www.cute-calendar.com

]]>https://where2look4ancestors.com/2017/05/19/national-bike-to-work-day/feed/0where2look4ancestorsEnglewood Wheelmen at http://where2look4ancestors.comBiking for parade at http://where2look4ancestors.comThe author on a tricycle at http://where2look4ancesors.comHand-me-down bike at http://where2look4ancestors.comGrandpa fixes bike at http://where2look4ancestors.comVeterans Dayhttps://where2look4ancestors.com/2016/11/11/veterans-day/
https://where2look4ancestors.com/2016/11/11/veterans-day/#respondFri, 11 Nov 2016 20:45:09 +0000http://where2look4ancestors.com/?p=6557What we now know as Veterans Day is our opportunity to publicly commemorate the contributions of living veterans.

Armistice Day, as it was called previously, officially received its name in America in 1926 through a congressional resolution. It became a national holiday 12 years later by similar congressional action.

If World War I really had been “the war to end all wars,” November 11 might be still called Armistice Day.

Realizing that peace was equally preserved by veterans of World War II and Korea, Congress decided to make the day an occasion to honor all those who have served America.

In 1954 President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed a bill proclaiming November 11 as Veterans Day. The first Veterans Day parade was held in 1953 in Emporia, Kansas.

A law passed in 1968 changed the national commemoration of Veterans Day to the fourth Monday in October. It soon became apparent however, that November 11 was a date of historic significance to many Americans. Therefore, in 1978 Congress returned the observance to its traditional date.

However you celebrate this day, please take a moment to thank those who make our freedom possible.

That may sound distant but consider this; Alice’s father Elmer and my 2nd great-grandfather were brothers. Elmer and William Clarke were two of at least 11 children born to Morgan Henry and Susan Hammer (nee Shank) Clark/e.

I’ve traced our family back to Maryland in the late 1700s but I don’t yet know for certain the country from which our ancestors immigrated. Perhaps you or someone in your family has done family history research? Or maybe you know of a family Bible or photo album with clues about our Clarke genealogy?

Alice has been on my mind recently because as you know, she died on this date 12 years ago.

Her name came up on my family history calendar and I’ve been reviewing what I know of her life:

When the 1940 census was taken, Alice and her husband Harry were renting their home at 4451 N Mason Avenue in Chicago for $35 a month. Harry was 41 and worked as a office manager for a tool and die manufacturer. 31-year-old Alice was a stay-at-home mom. She and her two youngest children 12-year-old Robert and 10-year-old Barbara had been born in Illinois. 16-year-old Margery, the oldest child had been born in Indiana like her father. Both Harry and Alice had completed one year of high school; Margery had completed two years. The family had lived in this same home for at least the previous five years.

In April of 1930, Harry C and Alice owned their home (valued at $7500) at 3545 West 60th Street in Chicago. Harry was an accountant for a commission house. He and his father were born in Indiana, his mother had been born in Pennsylvania. Harry was 31 years old, he’d gotten married when he was 20. Alice was 21, married at 18, born in Illinois as was her mother. Her father had been born in Maryland. The couple had three children; Marjorie 6, Robert 2-3/12, and Barbara 9/12. Marjorie attended school.

Ten years earlier when the 1920 census was taken, 10-year-old Alice, her parents Elmer E. 54 and Susan 48, her brother Elmer E 19 and sisters Stella 16, Edna 13, Eloise 8, Irma 6 and Dorothy 1-6/12 all lived at 646 Lorel Avenue in Chicago. Alice’s father Elmer and his parents had been born in Maryland; her mother Susan had been born in Illinois to German immigrants. Elmer worked as a sheet metal welder and the couple owned the family’s mortgaged home. Alice’s brother Elmer was an office clerk and sister Stella was a telephone operator. Edna, Eloise, Irma and Alice attended school.

One-year-old Alice was the youngest of the seven children living with Elmer E and Susie E when the 1910 census was taken. The family resided at 3042 South 41st Street in Chicago, a home the family owned free of a mortgage. Elmer was 44, Susie was 38; both were 18 when they got married. This census shows Elmer’s and his father’s birthplace as Maryland; his mother’s as Pennsylvania. Susie was born in Illinois; her parents were immigrants from Germany. Elmer was an iron moulder. Alice’s 16-year-old brother Lyman was an office clerk, 14-year-old brother Clifford. M was a newspaper agent. Alice’s siblings 12-year-old Zora S., 9-year-old Elmer E., and 7-year-old Stella A. attended school.

That brings us back to Alice Hester Clarke’s birth in Chicago on 30 Mar 1909. She was Elmer Eugene and Susan (nee Berg) Clarke’s seventh child.

I would love to connect with you and learn more about this branch of our family tree. I’m especially interested in our shared ancestors, Alice’s grandparents Morgan Henry & Susan Hammer (nee Shank) Clark/e and Morgan’s parents Mathias/Mathew & Rebecca (nee Ridenour) Clark. Mathew was born in Maryland about 1798; his parents may be our immigrant ancestors possibly from Germany or Switzerland.

Please drop me a line by email at where2look4ancestors [at] gmail [dot] com or leave a comment on this blog. I look forward to getting to know you!

2004 Social Security Death Index, Master File. Social Security Administration.

]]>https://where2look4ancestors.com/2016/11/01/are-we-related-part-one/feed/5where2look4ancestors2016-11-01scan_201610303 Things I Learned from Alfred Mueller’s Social Security Recordhttps://where2look4ancestors.com/2016/10/19/3-things-i-learned-from-alfred-muellers-social-security-record/
https://where2look4ancestors.com/2016/10/19/3-things-i-learned-from-alfred-muellers-social-security-record/#commentsWed, 19 Oct 2016 15:22:16 +0000http://where2look4ancestors.com/?p=7493The SS-5 form was more valuable to me than the SSDI (Social Security Death Index) in my quest to prove my great-grandfather’s date of birth.

Why? Because it had been completed by the subject of my search. Not to mention the oodles of additional information the form added to my understanding of Alfred’s life.

One of the steps I took was to review my sources for my great-grandfather Alfred Jacob Mueller on Ancestry, which included the US Social Security Applications and Claims. Seeing the index listed as a source made me realize I had never ordered a copy of the application itself, so I requested one. (Click here to see how I did that.)

Response from the Social Security Administration Division of Earnings Records Operations came so quickly, I thought the envelope contained my earnings records.

But it actually contained this:

The first thing I noticed was the street address; 3046 N. Leavitt Street. It matched Alfred’s address in the 1940 census when he worked as a laborer for the park district. This was a marked change from the four previous censuses in which the adult Alfred had appeared.

According to the 1930 census, Alfred owned his home at 4217 N. Meade Street in Chicago. He worked as a bread salesman for a bakery, the same occupation listed in the 1920 and 1910 censuses. This was presumably an advancement from his role as baker per the 1900 census. From just these records I can conclude Alfred worked for the same company, Sawyer Biscuit, for at least 30 years. Had he been impacted positively or negatively by the company’s merger in 1925?

Chicago’s 3046 N Leavitt Street is currently a multi-unit dwelling. Built in 1904, the 2500 square foot home had been divided into apartments. Four families lived there when the 1940 census was taken. This change in living arrangements and the change in his occupation shows the effect of the Great Depression on Alfred and his family.

The next item of interest was the field labeled Business Name of Present Employer. Although I knew that Alfred had worked for the WPA (Works Progress Administration), his Social Security application confirmed that fact and gave more specifics. Like the number 122 and the WPA address of the Merchandise Mart in the city of Chicago. More details about this employment appeared further down the card; If Registered with the U.S. Employment Service, Give Number of Registration Card. Both 1405 and 69157 had been handwritten. Alfred also stated he had not previously filled out a card like this.

That field told me I didn’t need to look for any additional forms, but the other fields Alfred filled in prompted me to search for WPA employment records. That’s how I found this page of the National Archives; the National Archives at St. Louis Works Progress Administration (WPA), Personnel Records. Where I completed the PDF form and mailed my request for Alfred’s records! (More on that later – as soon as I receive the response to my request.)

Lastly, and very interesting to me, were the names of Jacob’s parents. Jacob’s middle name Koebe rarely appears anywhere, so the fact that Alfred included in on an official record makes it that much more “real” to me. And the “misspelling” of Alfred’s mother’s name… Elizabeth/Elisabeth/Lizzie/Elise and the sometimes (I previously thought) misspelling Eloise. Did Alfred fill out the form himself and spell his mother’s name this way? Did a clerk fill out the form and spell Alfred’s mother’s name the way he pronounced it? But I digress….one record at a time…

Was the SS-5 form worth $27? Absolutely! It provided additional information about my great-grandfather Alfred and gave me more clues to pursue.

]]>https://where2look4ancestors.com/2016/10/19/3-things-i-learned-from-alfred-muellers-social-security-record/feed/52016-10-11-ss-5-formwhere2look4ancestors2016-10-11-ss-5-form2016-10-11-mueller-alfred-ss-form12 Step Program for Genealogistshttps://where2look4ancestors.com/2016/10/09/12-step-program-for-genealogists/
https://where2look4ancestors.com/2016/10/09/12-step-program-for-genealogists/#commentsSun, 09 Oct 2016 15:15:32 +0000http://where2look4ancestors.com/?p=7473Child #2 tells me I am a genealogy addict. I counter with my attendance of meetings, ostensibly looking for a cure. Child patiently explains the concept of 12 step programs; they are supposed to help one kick a habit, not provide another fix.

After some thought, I developed my own 12 Step Program. Rather than looking for a “cure”, it focuses on encouraging my family to help me find just one more ancestor.

Step 1: When dinner conversation turns to county boundary changes (after nonchalantly steering the family in this direction), share no more than two stories of ancestors impacted by the change.

Step 2: If asked who the new baby looks like, answer using only the names of same-gender ancestors. Share photos when your opinion is met with rolling eyes.

Step 3: Offer to help with grandchildren’s homework, especially history and geography. Casually include information about ancestors who lived in these times and places. Stop talking when you hear your child’s footsteps approaching.

Step 4: Discreetly insert photos of ancestors in baby books, holiday photo albums etc. Act surprised when your children point out the impossibility of a Revolutionary soldier at last Thanksgiving’s dinner.

Step 5: Carry important papers everywhere. One never knows when a 1910 census will come in handy during a lull in the conversation.

Step 6: Make copies of family group sheets and “forget” one every time you visit.

Step 7: Plan vacations that coincidentally (how was I to know?) include the final resting places of ancestors.

Step 8: Help with the purchase of new school clothes for the grandkids. Authentic period costumes can be found on many web sites.

Step 9: Ask everyoneeverywhere about their ethnic origin. When in the company of children and grandchildren, prompt them to share theirs with store clerks, softball coaches, postal employees, directory assistance operators…

Step 10: While at the corner market, point out the simplicity of purchasing food in “these modern times”. Tell stories of ancestors carrying shotguns into a nearby forest to pick up the evening meal.

Step 11: Offer to drive the grandkids home from school. Take a different route each time so those cemetery visits don’t seem redundant.

Step 12: Take steps to create lifelong addicts genealogists in the next few generations by openly sharing your love of family history with the family who is creating their own history today.

]]>https://where2look4ancestors.com/2016/10/09/12-step-program-for-genealogists/feed/72016-10-13-12-step-programwhere2look4ancestors12 Step Program for Genealogists by where2look4ancestors.comHow to Take Better Headstone Pictures for Find A Gravehttps://where2look4ancestors.com/2016/10/07/how-to-take-better-headstone-pictures-for-find-a-grave/
https://where2look4ancestors.com/2016/10/07/how-to-take-better-headstone-pictures-for-find-a-grave/#commentsFri, 07 Oct 2016 14:15:18 +0000http://where2look4ancestors.com/?p=7345“Help us find the ending to every family story.” This is the sentiment behind Find A Grave Community Days, an event in which genealogists and taphophiles everywhere are encouraged to “Help preserve your local cemetery.”

I hope you’ll join the cause! It’s an amazing way to pay it forward for any help you’ve received researching your family history.

Here are 10 steps to take better headstone pictures for Find A Grave Community Days:

1.) Choose a cemetery that calls to you in some way and one in which you feel safe. There are garden cemeteries, military cemeteries, family cemeteries, rural or urban cemeteries, and cemeteries desperately in need of tender loving care. My favorites tend to be historic with rolling hills, old architecture and mature trees like Rosehill and Oak Woods in Chicago, Bluff City in Elgin, and Fort Snelling, St Mary’s and Lakewood in Minneapolis.

Does 90% mean almost all the headstones have been photographed? Not in this case. There are 1000 interments in this cemetery; only half of which have been memorialized on Find A Grave.

2.) Check the Find A Grave stats. What percentage of the memorials are already photographed? You’ll also want to match the number of memorials (called interments on Find A Grave) to the number of interments (actual burials in the cemetery).

You can find the number of interments on the cemetery’s web site or by calling the cemetery office. Remember the % photographed is of the memorials added to Find A Grave, not the number of actual interments (burials) at the cemetery.

3.) Prepare for your visit before you head out the door. Consider putting a cemetery kit together. Do you have extra batteries? Is your phone fully charged? Be sure to pack water so you stay hydrated. And don’t forget to print a list of photo requests at Find A Grave. Hint – requests that include burial location information will be the easiest to fill.

cemetery kit

4.) Arrive early or go late – when the sun isn’t directly overhead. To avoid casting shadows, photograph west facing headstones in the morning and east facing headstones in the afternoon. Head for shaded areas in the middle of the day.

5.) Park nearby but out of the way. You’ll want to be close to your vehicle to retrieve forgotten items or re-hydrate, but you don’t want your car to sneak into your pictures.

6.) Take pictures of the cemetery entrance signs and any signs marking the sections you visit.

7.) Plot your route around the section so you don’t retrace your steps and duplicate your efforts. I like to start at a corner and walk back and forth along the rows.

Kadlec Family Plot at Bohemian National Cemetery in Silver Lake Minnesota. None of the 10 markers had been photographed prior to our impromptu stop.

8.) Step back before shooting to see the bigger picture. Are there large family markers nears the individual stones? Family photos are particularly helpful to genealogists searching Find A Grave for missing ancestors.

9.) Look through your viewfinder or at your digital screen. Have you captured the entire headstone? It’s easy to lop off a corner or miss a spire on the top.

Is your angle the best for capturing all the information provided on each headstone? Sometimes straight-on shots are best, other times slightly-off to the side is better.

I love my Vans, but descendants of the deceased may not love them or my shadow in great-grandmother’s headstone picture.

Rinse and repeat that last step. Do you see yourself reflected in the headstone? Are your feet showing at the bottom of the picture? Some things are easy to photo-shop out, others are impossible to correct.

10.) Use Windows 10, Photoshop, or the free editing program Pixlr (I like Pixlr Express) to straighten, crop or enhance your images. I love the “retouch” feature on Windows 10; it can be an effective tool for removing goose droppings.

PS. It’s super easy to add pictures to Find A Grave, just follow the instructions on the link above. But if you find you need a hand, please let me know. I’m always happy to help!

]]>https://where2look4ancestors.com/2016/10/07/how-to-take-better-headstone-pictures-for-find-a-grave/feed/72016-10-07-pin-headstone-photos-2where2look4ancestorsHow to Take Better Headstone Pictures at https://where2look4ancestors.com/Bohemian National Cemetery on Find A Grave2016-10-07-cemetery-kitkadlec-family-plothow to take better headstone photosWho Do You Think YOU Are?https://where2look4ancestors.com/2016/10/05/who-do-you-think-you-are/
https://where2look4ancestors.com/2016/10/05/who-do-you-think-you-are/#commentsWed, 05 Oct 2016 15:15:09 +0000http://where2look4ancestors.com/?p=7437

I’m a Heinz 57

For decades, I thought I was 50% Swedish and 50% German.

Never mind that my maternal grandfather was somehow English. I’m not sure how we overlooked that bit of information, but I continued to believe I was half one ethnicity and half another long after I should have known better.

I started my genealogical exploration with the Swedes. It was my Swedish great-grand uncle‘s safe deposit box that gave me the push into a “hobby” that has taken over my life.

The Swedes are a fascinating group and I attribute many of my personality quirks to them. In terms of record keeping, you can’t ask for a better ancestor than a Swede. Every move was dutifully recorded in the church books making it easy for genealogists to follow a line back more generations than there are Andersons in the phone book.

At some point, I realized my gene pool had more swimmers than just Swedes. My dad is Swedish too and we correctly believed, German. But our oh-so German-sounding surname actually belonged to a Swiss ancestor. Hmm. A little re-framing of the picture, but we adjusted and accepted our “new” heritage. Books on the history of Switzerland and dreams of a vacation to the Alps filled our days. But before I finished winding my Swiss watch, I learned my direct-line ancestor from Switzerland married a woman who immigrated to the United States from France. A French woman, mind you. From France.

Okay. So I’m not just Swedish and German. I’m Swedish and German and Swiss and French. This seemed a bit much for me to digest at one time. So I returned to the comfort and safety of the Swedish church books. And I researched one line after another, making the connections between Sweden and America. Until I learned one of my direct-line Swedish ancestors married a man from Norway. A Norwegian man, mind you. From Norway.

Still okay. I understand and accept I am no longer just Swedish and German. I’m Swedish and German and Swiss and French and Norwegian. Oh my!

Is this really okay? After all, I’d been so enamored with Sweden that I have celebrated St Lucia Day for, oh dear, could it be 30 years now? Will I ever love a Swiss holiday the same way? Can I embrace my French-ness as enthusiastically? And Norwegian? Didn’t Sweden once rule that country?

Oh, but I mustn’t forget Grandpa who is somehow English. Is it even possible to add another country to the display on Flag Day? Some of my grandfather’s personality traits, in particular his dry sense of humor, were always attributed to his English ancestry. So it was rather interesting when I learned my grandfather isn’t just English. His father immigrated from the Isle of Man and his father’s father immigrated to IOM from Great Britain. Which means….

I’m Swedish and German and Swiss and French and Norwegian and Manx and English. And finally, after getting to know the ancestors that contributed their DNA to my gene pool, I’m more than okay with that. I’m proud of my heritage.

But wait – there’s more! Another surprise may be lurking on the horizon. I traced one of my direct line ancestors to 17th century Maryland. For all we know, he may have crossed the ocean from Ireland or maybe Scotland…

I’d better start shopping for another flag pole, don’t you think?

Originally posted on It’s All Relative March 22, 2010. Updated for where2look4ancestors.com.

]]>https://where2look4ancestors.com/2016/10/05/who-do-you-think-you-are/feed/4where2look4ancestorsWho Do You Think YOU Are at where2look4ancestors.comLessons in Naming Digital Fileshttps://where2look4ancestors.com/2016/10/03/lessons-in-naming-digital-files/
https://where2look4ancestors.com/2016/10/03/lessons-in-naming-digital-files/#commentsMon, 03 Oct 2016 14:15:43 +0000http://where2look4ancestors.com/?p=7366How quickly can you retrieve a genealogy file from your computer? Could you find a specific document in 20 seconds or less? In two minutes? Still looking?

I fluctuate between “20 seconds or less” and “still looking”. Too often the file I seek is named incorrectly or worse yet, not named at all.

Unnamed files make retrieval next to impossible and in this instance made the files nearly useless.

I’m on a mission to reduce the loose images stored in my digital family tree folder by 25%.

When I opened the folder this morning, scans 19-24 caught my attention right away. Not just because the documents looked interesting, but because the file names were so…useless. Closer inspection revealed the images were pages I had scanned from Tri-City/St. Charles [Illinois] City Directories that included my Swansons.

I know this because on scans 20-24, several Swanson names are highlighted.

What I don’t know are the years the city directories were published.

Not to worry, I have a three-ring binder full of alphabetically and chronologically arranged pages from various city directories. Surely the hard copies of these scanned images would be there.

But as luck would have it, none of the pages in my three-ring binder matched Scans 19, 20, 21, 22, 23 or 24. Hmm.

Next I checked the manila folders in my Tolf files. This seemed a promising place to look because the Lena who appears with Peter Swanson in Scans 22-24 was formerly a Tolf. But as it turned out, not one of the pieces of paper in my Tolf folders matched any of the city directory pages in Scans 19-24.

Arrggh! I took a deep breath and considered my options. The easiest path would be to delete the six images and forget I had ever seen them. After all, the Swansons are a collateral line I may never again pursue…or will I? I found these pages during a genealogy road trip years ago. Who knows if/when I’ll visit that repository again? It would be a shame to have wasted my time and effort.

Oh my goodness, I feel so much better! The next group of images should go more quickly because I won’t waste as much time berating myself for not doing this sooner. I’ll just keep reminding myself we all made mistakes as newbies and some of those mistakes take time to clean up.

]]>https://where2look4ancestors.com/2016/10/03/lessons-in-naming-digital-files/feed/4where2look4ancestorsUnnamed files make retrieval next to impossible and in this instance made the files nearly useless.2016-10-03-naming-genealogy-files-025 Reasons I Love Family History Month (and Why You Should Too)https://where2look4ancestors.com/2016/10/01/5-reasons-i-love-family-history-month-and-why-you-should-too/
https://where2look4ancestors.com/2016/10/01/5-reasons-i-love-family-history-month-and-why-you-should-too/#commentsSat, 01 Oct 2016 14:15:36 +0000http://where2look4ancestors.com/?p=7282

An entire month to celebrate genealogy? Sign me up!

Even Congress understands the importance of family history:

On June 27, 2003 a resolution introduced by Senator Orrin Hatch was agreed to in the Senate without amendment and with a preamble by unanimous consent. (consideration: CR S8846-8847; text as passed Senate: CR S8846-8847).

October is my favorite month for all the reasons above and many more. I’m most inspired to climb my family tree in the fall and winter so for me, October really kicks off the season.

Family History Month is an annual touchstone

This is the 13th celebration of Congress’s resolution. How far have we advanced in our research during that time? How many ancestors have been discovered, what stories have been uncovered, which resources have been explored?

Family History Month 2016 provides an incentive to update our growing family trees, share our ancestors with others, and back up our precious computer files. It’s also a wonderful time to set annual genealogy goals – how much can we accomplish between now and October 2017?

This year I’m narrowing my focus to my paternal grandfather’s ancestors. I plan to make significant progress on the eight surnames currently on his pedigree chart.

Family History Month is commercialized

but in a good way! The ancestry-related increase in TV commercials and web site ads may inspire an as-yet-unknown cousin to start searching for his and her ancestors. With any luck he or she might find my ancestors in the same tree!

Cousins I hope to find include those researching the surnames Clarke, Gury, Littrell, Mueller, Schmitt, Shank, Shartzer and Wyder. And maybe, just maybe, one of those new cousins can name the people in this picture and in this one.

Family History Month precedes traditional family gathering time

The holidays are around the corner; with all the makings for extended-family get-togethers. This is our opportunity to interview relatives, get the kids interested in their ancestors, ask for help identifying faces in old photos, and take new family group pictures – especially those of multiple generations.

Ask questions of everyone at family gatherings and record them if you can. A simple question can be the memory prompt for some wonderful stories.

During one such interview with my late mother-in-law, I asked her to tell me about the first car her family owned. “My parents never had a car”, she said. Imagine our surprise when she described riding in a horse-drawn wagon in rural Minnesota during the 1920’s and 30’s!

Family History Month gives us holiday lead time

We have just enough time to creatively incorporate family history into gifts for the descendants of our ancestors. Framed family trees, restored photographs, or family history photo books are some examples that come to mind. Heads-up kids and grandkids – spoiler alert! There’s a good chance ancestor calendars are going to make an appearance under this year’s Christmas tree.